Netflix Comes to Nintendo Wii

Image credit: Gadgetreview.com

There’s no question that Nintendo’s Wii console is one of the hottest tech items of the last several years. But I think it’s fair to say that a huge percentage of the consoles are doing little more than gathering dust right now. Fortunately, that little white box hooked up to your TV is about to get more useful. Like the Xbox 360 and the PS3 before it, the Wii will soon add Netflix streaming to its functionality.

For those of you without a Netflix account, the service offers online streaming videos in addition to mailed DVDs. These movie can be viewed on your computer or your television if you have a streaming-capable device hooked up. When the service is added to Wii consoles in the spring, it will require that a special Netflix streaming disc be inserted into the Wii drive and that the user has a valid Netflix account. Because the Wii is the only one of the three current game consoles that doesn’t support HD, streamed videos will be standard definition only. Still, even with a few limitations, anything that adds new functionality to the Wii will just help you justify the purchase to your spouse, who told you that you didn’t really need that thing in the first place.